On Banned Books Week, the Cybercrime Prevention Act and One Billion Facebook Users

September 29 to October 5

Which banned book have you read? There’s still one more day before Banned Books Week ends so there’s still time to catch up on read-outs. Here’s a rundown of our favorite posts celebrating the freedom to read. Also in the line-up: a suggestion on how to make class time more productive, protests against the Philippine Cybercrime Prevention Act and Facebook’s 1 billion users milestone.

Banned Books Week

PostScript’d suggested celebrating the 30th anniversary of Banned Books Week by reading Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, which is listed as the 10th most challenged title in 2011 due to offensive and racist language, along with Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy.

Stephen Chbosky for the Banned Books Virtual Read-Out

Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower was listed as a banned book in 2004 and from 2006 to 2009 for drug use, homosexuality and sexually explicit content, among others. Chbosky, who also wrote and directed the film adaptation of Perks, reads Dr. Earl Reum’s “A Person/A Paper/A Promise” for the Banned Books Virtual Read-Out.

As attempts to restrict book access from school curricula and libraries intensify, are Americans slowly distancing themselves from one of man’s greatest sources of knowledge? Bill Moyers cites various excuses these complaints are all about — inappropriateness, content, etc. — and why some overly zealous individuals deny the curiosity and passion to learn.

I’m with the Banned

Words and Usage

From a 4-year-old’s perspective, “whom” is already a phased-out word. In his/her article, R.L.G. tackles the future of the word “whom,” saying that its common usage is starting to falter and people are starting to grow unfamiliar of the word.

Did you know that back in the sixteenth century, “bully” was a term of endearment and the first “punk” was a prostitute? This excerpt from Susie Dent’s What Made the Crocodile Cry? lists down a number of English words which “have been in (and occasionally out of) circulation for centuries.”

Ann Handley lists down some of the major don’ts in word usage that make you sound stupid or pompous, or both. She underlines the importance of one’s consciousness of good grammar, so as to convey clearly across what you mean.

Education

Students may find their champion in this one. Salman Khan, founder of the Khan Academy, explains why longer lectures are ineffective for a student’s learning process, affirming that human attention and retention speaks against the value of long lectures. Khan also stated that, according to a study, students are only able to recall the facts from the first 20 minutes of the study.

Social Media

The approval of the Cybercrime Prevention Act, otherwise known as the Republic Act No. 10175, has drawn a public outrage, sparking protests in the streets and in the cyber community as well. Paul Tassi compared the Philippine law with the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and said “SOPA’s proposed censorship sounds downright lax by comparison.”

Netizens cried foul over the government’s most recent tightening of the noose. Some dubbed it as an e-Martial Law, alleging that the law violates constitutional rights. Spot.ph lists the 10 scariest parts of the law, including the possibility of being charged for abetting libel when you like or retweet a libelous post.

We at Project Chiron aim to encourage the use of social media for knowledge exchange and skills development. We’re not necessarily about current events; we are about relevance, credibility and innovation. With millions of content spread and shared through social media networks every day, we want to help you see what’s important so you won’t have to sweep through all your news feeds and tweets. Our weekly roundups are curated by Dan Dupale and Mina Jesuitas and edited by Kim Palanca and Paulo Formantes.Comments, corrections, questions and suggestions are welcome.